Welcome!
This website has come to fruition for many reasons. The first of which is that for several years now I have been looking for a medium of communication with which I can reach out to and interact with people from the four corners of the world. I wish to share my love of food, cuisine, agriculture, culture and sensuality with anyone who would care to listen. Ever since I was little boy people would say to me “By golly you have a lot to say”; Yes, I do and this is my forum.
There are some things to keep in mind as you navigate this site. This site is intended to be used as a reference tool for anyone curious about gastronomy and its many faces. As the site grows you will find many articles and entries about gastronomy. These writings are intended to be used as one would use reference material related to any subject that one would pursue academically. This site will also be used to as a sounding board for those of us who feel that food should be extremely accessible, nutritious, easily understood, sensual and sexy, seasonal and locally sourced, of the highest quality and, of course, delicious. There may be a political bend to some of the writings you find here but only in addressing the aforementioned. As OnGastronomy.com progresses you will hear from a myriad of voices not just my own. All writings with political meanderings will be kept highly segregated from the reference material held within this site.
You will find recipes on this site, lots of them. You'll find recipes that span many skill sets and styles of cuisine. Keep in mind that a fair amount of the recipes that you'll find here will be written as ratios with general mention of method and technique. This is very different from the recipes that you will see on many food-centered websites and in most culinary literature. The purpose of writing recipes this way is multifaceted; to promote a deeper understanding of how and why cooking works, to allow the cook to improvise and tailor the food to their palate preferences and, lastly, that's how cooks have cooked since the dawn of cuisine.
Am I a gastronome? Yes and no. Merriam-Webster tells us that a gastronome is “a lover of good food; especially : one with a serious interest in gastronomy”; I am both of these. What I am not is someone who believes that good food belongs to good people and people that can afford to indulge in it. Food and the enjoyment of it belongs to all of us.
There are three basic things that can be found in every civilization that has ever existed; The craving of sex or the need to procreate, The need for a safe environment- whether it is a shelter to shield us from the brutality that Mother Nature can exert on us or the wanting to feel safe and loved in our communities and family groups and the need to eat and take pleasure from eating. Not even religion or the belief that there is a higher power among us is universal. In my minds eye we need a safe environment so that we may dine in peace and we need to procreate so that we are never in need of a dining companion. Plus making love on an empty stomach is never a good idea and there are countless foods that can increase our sensual experiences and intensify our lovemaking. That being said food is the center of our being and wellbeing.
Merriam-Webster goes on to tell us that gastronomy is “the art or science of good eating, culinary customs or style”. Gastronomy is that and so much more. It is knowing where and when the first morel mushrooms will appear. It is knowing how to harvest those morels. It is knowing what other ingredients to combine with those morels, if other ingredients need be combined at all. It is knowing how to combine those morels with an infinite amount of flavors, textures, aromas, sensations and sounds to create something truly unique, special and exhilarating to the moment at hand. And it is knowing how to share in that moment.
A good friend of mine was once asked; what is better foie gras or peaches? While most educated chefs would quickly gravitate towards the foie gras based on it's exquisiteness, value and reputation my friend had a completely unpredictable response. He went on to explain that both foie gras and a peach are equal to each other in their culinary value and the pleasure that they will bring the diner. Each one of them has it own unique combination of textures, tastes, aromas, appearances and sounds that makes it so drastically different from the other that someone could not simply say that one was better or worse than the other. They are both phenomenal.
Think of the peach for a moment. You can smell this peach well before you can see it. It's a sweet fruity floral enveloping smell, one that instantly puts you at peace with all the madness going on in the world around you. See it growing on the tree, the farmer tending to its brothers and sisters in the background. You hear the gentle hum of the honey bees collecting the sweet sweet nectar from some peach flowers that just blossomed. See the sun shining through the leaves of the tree and kissing it on its luscious rosy cheeks, the morning dew absorbing into its soft velvety skin plumping it up ever so slightly. Now pick that peach from the tree. Feel it's skin, feel it's mildly cool temperature, feel the slight softness of its flesh. Touch the peach to your lips and then take a bite. Shivers go down your spine as the juice drips down your chin, the peaches perfume floods your nose and you are overcome with every bit of love, sunshine and rain, hard work and delicate care that went into making that peach the most amazing one you've ever eaten.
Understanding all this is what makes me more than a gastronome. It's what makes me and others like me gastronauts. We are the gastronomes of the 21st century. We are and will bring food to the people. Come join us in this journey.
Welcome to OnGastronomy.com!
There are some things to keep in mind as you navigate this site. This site is intended to be used as a reference tool for anyone curious about gastronomy and its many faces. As the site grows you will find many articles and entries about gastronomy. These writings are intended to be used as one would use reference material related to any subject that one would pursue academically. This site will also be used to as a sounding board for those of us who feel that food should be extremely accessible, nutritious, easily understood, sensual and sexy, seasonal and locally sourced, of the highest quality and, of course, delicious. There may be a political bend to some of the writings you find here but only in addressing the aforementioned. As OnGastronomy.com progresses you will hear from a myriad of voices not just my own. All writings with political meanderings will be kept highly segregated from the reference material held within this site.
You will find recipes on this site, lots of them. You'll find recipes that span many skill sets and styles of cuisine. Keep in mind that a fair amount of the recipes that you'll find here will be written as ratios with general mention of method and technique. This is very different from the recipes that you will see on many food-centered websites and in most culinary literature. The purpose of writing recipes this way is multifaceted; to promote a deeper understanding of how and why cooking works, to allow the cook to improvise and tailor the food to their palate preferences and, lastly, that's how cooks have cooked since the dawn of cuisine.
Am I a gastronome? Yes and no. Merriam-Webster tells us that a gastronome is “a lover of good food; especially : one with a serious interest in gastronomy”; I am both of these. What I am not is someone who believes that good food belongs to good people and people that can afford to indulge in it. Food and the enjoyment of it belongs to all of us.
There are three basic things that can be found in every civilization that has ever existed; The craving of sex or the need to procreate, The need for a safe environment- whether it is a shelter to shield us from the brutality that Mother Nature can exert on us or the wanting to feel safe and loved in our communities and family groups and the need to eat and take pleasure from eating. Not even religion or the belief that there is a higher power among us is universal. In my minds eye we need a safe environment so that we may dine in peace and we need to procreate so that we are never in need of a dining companion. Plus making love on an empty stomach is never a good idea and there are countless foods that can increase our sensual experiences and intensify our lovemaking. That being said food is the center of our being and wellbeing.
Merriam-Webster goes on to tell us that gastronomy is “the art or science of good eating, culinary customs or style”. Gastronomy is that and so much more. It is knowing where and when the first morel mushrooms will appear. It is knowing how to harvest those morels. It is knowing what other ingredients to combine with those morels, if other ingredients need be combined at all. It is knowing how to combine those morels with an infinite amount of flavors, textures, aromas, sensations and sounds to create something truly unique, special and exhilarating to the moment at hand. And it is knowing how to share in that moment.
A good friend of mine was once asked; what is better foie gras or peaches? While most educated chefs would quickly gravitate towards the foie gras based on it's exquisiteness, value and reputation my friend had a completely unpredictable response. He went on to explain that both foie gras and a peach are equal to each other in their culinary value and the pleasure that they will bring the diner. Each one of them has it own unique combination of textures, tastes, aromas, appearances and sounds that makes it so drastically different from the other that someone could not simply say that one was better or worse than the other. They are both phenomenal.
Think of the peach for a moment. You can smell this peach well before you can see it. It's a sweet fruity floral enveloping smell, one that instantly puts you at peace with all the madness going on in the world around you. See it growing on the tree, the farmer tending to its brothers and sisters in the background. You hear the gentle hum of the honey bees collecting the sweet sweet nectar from some peach flowers that just blossomed. See the sun shining through the leaves of the tree and kissing it on its luscious rosy cheeks, the morning dew absorbing into its soft velvety skin plumping it up ever so slightly. Now pick that peach from the tree. Feel it's skin, feel it's mildly cool temperature, feel the slight softness of its flesh. Touch the peach to your lips and then take a bite. Shivers go down your spine as the juice drips down your chin, the peaches perfume floods your nose and you are overcome with every bit of love, sunshine and rain, hard work and delicate care that went into making that peach the most amazing one you've ever eaten.
Understanding all this is what makes me more than a gastronome. It's what makes me and others like me gastronauts. We are the gastronomes of the 21st century. We are and will bring food to the people. Come join us in this journey.
Welcome to OnGastronomy.com!
